Preparing for the worst

STAFF WRITER

Students came into the football stadium playfully joking around, but left somber and quiet after a Pike high school hosted “Project Prom Mock Disaster” yesterday afternoon, simulating a DUI-related car accident.

Emergency responders extricated volunteers, who were students from Shelby Valley High School and Pike Central High School, from the vehicles.

“I was scared, and I even knew it wasn't real,” said SVHS Senior Sara Ratliff. “I'd hate to really be in an accident like that, and I hope nobody has to be.”

Volunteer Firefighter Darrell Meadows, from the Shelby Valley Volunteer Fire Department, said that Project Prom Mock Disaster has been going on for about 16 years. He hopes students learn not to be out drinking and driving on prom night.

“It might teach them a lesson,” Meadows said.

Seeing a mock accident shows students “what not to do when they're out away from their parents and on their own,” said Cyrus Hess, a paramedic with the DHP Ambulance Service and a firefighter with the SVVFD.

Hess said the planning for this event has been going on for the past couple months. Schools sent out letters inviting the community, parents, family, friends along with all area high schools, he said.

During the mock accident, students saw an officer give a driver a sobriety test, then arrested him for a DUI. They got to see rescuers extricate the volunteers from vehicles with the “jaws of life,” or spreaders or cutters, which are hydraulic equipment used to cut open smashed up vehicles, according to Daniel Stewart, a member of the SVVFD.

Two helicopters also landed in order to fly out two pretend victims.

Gina Tarver, the Director for DHP responders, said she thinks that if students are confronted with the reality of what can happen, it can shock them.

“It may be a little harsh for them to see things like this, but sometimes that's what it takes,” Tarver said. “In the end, it's a positive thing.”

Tarver said people don't tend to take it personally when they see accidents on the news.

“Hopefully this will be a more personal approach to it,” she said.

James Taylor said Taylor Wrecking Service donated the vehicles for the mock disaster the past two years.

“Right before prom time and graduation we always try to put this on,” Taylor said.

Pike Central Junior Ryan Thompson, who was one of the volunteers, said the simulation was very realistic, and he felt relieved when he was removed from the vehicle. Students in the vehicles were covered with sheets to protect them from breaking glass.

“I didn't like the glass being busted,” he said, referring to when firefighters had to bust open the windows to get to the “victims.”

Thoughts running through Thompson's head throughout the simulation included “don't drive fast on prom night, for sure,” he said. “I thought it'd be something to just goof around, but it's really realistic.”

SVVFD Fire Chief Darrell Compton said the following agencies participated in the mock disaster: Shelby Valley Fire Department, DHP ambulance, Med Flight (air and ground units), LifeMed Air Medical, Johns Creek Fire Department, Pikeville Fire Department, Floyd County Rescue, Kentucky State Police, Shelby Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Pike County Sheriff's Department and Pike County Coroner's Office.